93 Eighth Route Army against 3,000 Japanese troops, 18 days of bloody battle successfully broke through, casualties 1:150
Daigu Defense Battle: 93 Eighth Route Army against 3000 Japanese troops, 18 days of bloody battle casualties 1:150 successfully broke through
Since ancient times, war has been an unpredictable thing, no one can fully guarantee victory in war, and those who clamor for victory are often the people who are beaten the hardest by reality.
MacArthur shouted for American soldiers to return home before Christmas, but he himself was caught in the quagmire of war, because repeated defeats had lost the reputation and prestige he had accumulated before. Japan clamored for three months to destroy China, but was exhausted by the heroic resistance of the Chinese people, and finally surrendered unconditionally.
The invaders who waged the war could not imagine what kind of resolute resistance would be encountered on Chinese soil, and what kind of miracles would be created in the war Chinese. The Defense of Daigu is a typical battle in which less wins more.
North and South Daigu
A Daigu defended the situation before the war
On the anti-Japanese battlefield, the Japanese army as an aggressor often occupied an absolute advantage by virtue of its advanced industrial base. As a newly industrialized country, the Japanese are the first in Asia in both the navy and the army.
Due to the developed industry and good economy, the military training and equipment of the Japanese army are also very good, and the quality of individual soldiers is very high. According to a statistic at the time, the ratio of Chinese and Japanese soldiers to battle losses was about 5:1.
In other words, on average, 5 soldiers are sacrificed to destroy one Japanese soldier. This is still the conclusion reached by the Kuomintang army when its weapons, equipment, and personnel allocation are relative to those of the Eighth Route Army. The weapons and equipment of the Eighth Route Army lagged behind that of the Kuomintang Army, and theoretically it would be more difficult to fight when encountering the Japanese army.
However, in the Daigu area, the Eighth Route Army once played a typical example in a battle, wiping out a large number of Japanese soldiers with very small losses, and finally retreating completely.
In 1943, after several years of struggle, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had entered a stage of stalemate, and the war situation had undergone great changes.
Since October 1942, the Japanese puppet army's sweeping of the base areas in central Shandong has become more frequent and crazy, and it has organized five "drag-net and encirclement" sweeps in an attempt to deal a heavy blow to the organs and headquarters units of the Eighth Route Army Military Region in the Luzhong area. However, they were all crushed by our army one by one, and the form of anti-Japanese resistance in the Luzhong area also became very severe.
In September 1943, the Japanese puppet army once again entangled more than 10,000 troops to sweep the Luzhong base area, and the Daigu Mountain area was exactly where the Japanese puppet army attacked the hinterland of the Yimeng region.
In order to cover the retreat and transfer of the main forces and smash the enemy's sweep, the military region decided to leave a small number of troops to contain, and it was this blockade battle that struck out the prestige of our Eighth Route Army, made the enemy feel frightened, and created a classic battle of victory with less in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
A heroic warrior in the defense of Daigu
Pre-World War II arrangements
On the evening of November 3, Zhang Dong, deputy battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 11th Regiment of the Military Sub-district, received an order from his superiors to rush to the headquarters of the military sub-district and accept an urgent task. The military situation was like a fire, and Zhang Dong immediately set off as soon as he received the order, and he couldn't even take care of dinner. When we arrived at the headquarters of the military sub-district, we found that Wu Ruilin, the commander of the anti-military sub-district, had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Zhang Dong's arrival, the commander did not have any nonsense and went directly to the theme: On November 1, nearly 20,000 puppet troops attacked our Luzhong base and began a new sweeping operation in a vain attempt to eliminate the main force of our army.
Zhang Dong was excited with a hint of nervousness and anticipation, the commander was so angry to find himself, and announced such earth-shattering news, that must be a very important task to hand over to himself.
Sure enough, Commander Wu slowed down and continued:
"This time, the Japanese army is fierce, a little fiercer than the previous offensive, and the superior ordered our military sub-district to resolutely defend the throat of the Japanese army's attack on the hinterland of the Yimeng Mountains--the north and south Daigu, and then contain the enemy's main force and delay the enemy's offensive momentum."
"The military sub-district has decided to give this blockade task to the 8th Company and the 7th Company of your battalion, under your unified command."
Zhang Dong immediately straightened up and gave a military salute to the commander, indicating that he would resolutely complete the task of blocking the attack.
Soon, Zhang Dong returned to the unit, held a combat deployment mission, and then immediately set off with a platoon of the Eighth Company and the 7th Company to the blockade site. Zhang Dong led his troops to build strong fortifications, dug communication trenches and tunnels, anti-artillery holes and other facilities, and stored a large amount of grain and ammunition.
In the early morning of the 10th, the Japanese army appeared at the foot of Dagu Mountain, and Zhang Dong sent some combat groups to retreat while fighting, gradually attracting the Japanese army to Daigu Mountain, and a fierce blockade battle began.
Wu Ruilin, who commanded the defense of Daigu
Three Classic battles in which less wins more
Because the Japanese army of our army deliberately spread some interference news before the war, and because Zhang Dong kept using small detachments to harass, the Japanese army analyzed that the main force of our army was on the Daigu Mountain, so it wanted to break through the Daigu Mountain in one fell swoop and eliminate the main force of our army.
In the first two days, the Japanese army fought steadily, constantly dispatching troops and generals to build fortifications. On the 13th, the Japanese puppet army began to attack the Beidaigu Mountain as it had done two days before, and when the enemy army climbed to a certain height, with Zhang Dong's order, the heroic soldiers of our army frantically threw grenades, stones, wooden stakes and other defensive materials from the mountain downwards, and kept shooting.
At this moment, the enemy army was confused, and I did not expect that our army's resistance was so tenacious, and under the anger of shame, the Japanese army began to use aircraft and heavy artillery to indiscriminately bombard the defensive battlefield, in a vain attempt to tear open a hole with firepower. However, due to the sufficient preparations before the war, the Eighth Route Army could enter the artillery holes and tunnels to avoid bombing, and the Japanese bombing caused almost no damage to Zhang Dong's troops.
At night, our army also sent elite soldiers to plant mines in the passages of the Japanese puppet army and constantly harassed the enemy troops. The battle was also supported by some friendly local forces. The 11th Regiment attacked the surrounding Japanese troops, and not only that, they also delivered food and ammunition and the latest intelligence information to Zhang Dong's troops on Daigu Mountain.
With this support, the Eighth Route Army, which was in charge of the blockade, greatly increased its confidence, was greatly encouraged, and was even more confident in this blockade battle.
The Japanese army has not been able to break through in this battle, and in a fit of rage, it began to use poison gas bombs and coerce the villagers in an attempt to force the Eighth Route Army to compromise and surrender. But they were all defeated again and again by Zhang Dong's eight consecutive defeats.
The impatient Japanese finally decided to use the elite of the 32nd Division to re-attack, but no amount of attack could break through the Daigushan position.
On the 27th, Zhang Dongbu, who had successfully completed the task of containment, quietly withdrew, and successfully converged with the receiving troops, successfully completing the task.
In this battle, our army only sacrificed two people and wounded 8 people, but it eliminated the 300 Japanese puppet army, pinned down a large number of Japanese main forces, and won precious time for the transfer of the main force of the military sub-district. It can be said that it achieved major combat results with extremely small losses, and dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army.
This battle was a rare battle during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in which less was won over more, and it also played out the prestige of our Eighth Route Army, and was an extremely successful classic example.
Two generals, He Faxiang (right) and Zhao Chengfeng (left), unveiled the Monument to the Defense of Daigu